1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a document binding apparatus constituted to be connected to a printer apparatus such as a page printer, a copying machine or a facsimile and to automatically bind a print paper discharged from the printer apparatus.
More specifically, the present invention relates to the following with respect to a document binding apparatus:
a paper feeding mechanism of a document binding apparatus which leads in a paper and discharges the paper after binding by means of one motor;
a paper feeding mechanism of a document binding apparatus which can enhance the stability of paper feed;
a paper arranging mechanism of a document binding apparatus in which positions are arranged in longitudinal and transverse directions by means of one motor;
a document binding apparatus to bind a document with a fixed electromotive stapler; and
a binding table of a document binding apparatus for preventing misalignment of a paper.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is convenient that a printer apparatus such as a page printer, a facsimile or a copying machine has a document binding function of automatically binding and discharging a printed document. A large-sized copying machine having an electromotive stapler provided therein and serving to carry out a document binding process has already been put into practical use. It is supposed that a document binding apparatus having a simple structure which can be externally attached to the printer apparatus can enhance a business processing efficiency. In the case in which such a document binding apparatus is to be concretely implemented; however, it is a matter of course that the size of a mechanism section should be reduced as much as possible. Further, it is necessary to have a structure capable of removing a jammed paper as a countermeasure to be taken against a paper jamming accident in addition to a document binding function.
A technical problem to be solved arises in order to provide a document binding apparatus which can be connected to the printer apparatus as described above and the invention has a first object to solve the problem.
Further, there is a technical problem to be solved in order to provide a paper feeding mechanism having a reasonable structure suitable for a reduction in the size of the document binding apparatus, and the invention has a second object to solve the problem.
When concretely implementing such a document binding apparatus, it is necessary to provide a paper lead-in roller mechanism for feeding a paper discharged from a printer apparatus onto a binding table and a paper discharge roller mechanism for discharging the bound paper from a document binding apparatus process table. In a mechanism for holding and feeding a paper between a pair of rollers, however, when the termination of the paper passes through the pair of rollers so that feeding force is not applied, the paper is stopped. Consequently, there is a possibility that the paper might be incompletely fed into the binding table and might be incompletely discharged from the binding table. Therefore, there is a technical problem to be solved in order to reliably feed the paper to a predetermined position, and the invention has a third object to solve the problem.
Moreover, there is a technical problem to be solved in order to provide a paper arranging mechanism having a reasonable structure suitable for a reduction in the size of the document binding apparatus, and the invention has a fourth object to solve the problem.
Further, when concretely implementing such a document binding apparatus, as mentioned above, it is necessary to reduce the size of a mechanism section as much as possible. A copying machine with a conventional document binding function has such a structure that an electromotive stapler is moved with respect to a paper arranged on a binding table or the paper is moved to the position of the electromotive stapler and is thus arranged. Consequently, there is a problem in that a mechanism for moving the electromotive stapler or a mechanism for moving the paper is required, resulting in a complexity and large size of a paper binding mechanism.
Therefore, there is a technical problem to be solved in order to provide a small-sized document binding apparatus which can be externally attached to a printer apparatus, and the invention has a fifth object to solve the problem.
Moreover, when concretely implementing such a document binding apparatus, a paper discharged from a printer apparatus is sequentially led onto a binding table in the document binding apparatus by means of a paper lead-in roller mechanism, and the led paper is arranged by a paper arranging mechanism and is bound by an electromotive stapler. In this case, generally, the surface of the binding table formed of plastics has a low coefficient of friction and is easy to slip. Therefore, when the paper is to be continuously fed onto the binding table, there is a possibility that a second paper might push a first paper put on the binding table forward and the position of the first paper might be shifted. If the inclination angle of the binding table is increased, there is no possibility that the misalignment might be caused. If the inclination angle is increased, the height of the document binding apparatus is increased, which is not preferable for the document binding apparatus requiring a reduction in a size.
Therefore, there is a technical problem to be solved in order to reduce the height of the document binding apparatus as much as possible and to prevent the misalignment of the paper put on the binding table, and the invention has a sixth object to solve the problem.
Further, there is a technical problem to be solved in order to provide a document binding apparatus capable of being externally attached to a printer apparatus and easily removing a paper in the case of a paper jam, and the invention has a seventh object to solve the problem.
The invention is proposed to attain the first object and provides a document binding apparatus formed to be externally attached to a printer apparatus such as a page printer, a facsimile or a copying machine, including: a paper lead-in roller mechanism for leading a paper discharged from the printer apparatus onto a binding table in the document binding apparatus; a paper arranging mechanism for aligning a position of the paper put on the binding table; an electromotive stapler for binding a vicinity of a corner portion of the paper put on the binding table; a paper discharge roller mechanism for discharging the paper put on the document binding table to a stack tray; and a control device for sequence controlling the paper lead-in roller mechanism, the paper arranging mechanism, the electromotive stapler and the paper discharge roller mechanism, wherein a series of operations are executed, in which the paper discharged from the printer apparatus is led onto the binding table and the paper put on the binding table is arranged, and the arranged paper is bound through a staple and the bound paper is discharged onto the stack tray.
Moreover, there is provided the document binding apparatus including control means provided with a sensor for detecting a paper discharged from the printer apparatus and serving to start the paper lead-in roller mechanism in response to an ON signal of the paper detecting sensor, to start the paper arranging mechanism in response to an OFF signal of the paper detecting sensor, to compare an OFF continuation time taken after the paper detecting sensor is turned OFF with a reference time, to start the electromotive stapler when the OFF continuation time exceeds the reference time, and to start the paper discharge roller mechanism after the staple process.
Furthermore, there is provided the document binding apparatus including control means for starting the electromotive stapler when the number of ON operations of the paper detecting sensor is two or more and the OFF continuation time taken after the paper detecting sensor is turned OFF exceeds the reference time, and for starting the paper discharge roller mechanism after the staple process.
In addition, the invention is proposed to attain the second object and provides a paper feeding mechanism of a document binding apparatus formed to be externally attached to a printer apparatus such as a page printer, a facsimile or a copying machine in which a paper discharged from the printer apparatus is sequentially led onto a binding table in the document binding apparatus through a paper lead-in roller mechanism, the led paper is arranged by a paper arranging mechanism and is bound by an electromotive stapler, and the bound paper is discharged by a paper discharge roller mechanism,
wherein a gear train for driving a paper lead-in roller and a paper discharge roller by means of one paper feeding motor is provided, a gear is attached to a shaft of a rotatable link arm through a torque limiter, the gear is engaged with a gear for paper discharge, the paper discharge roller is attached to a tip portion of the link arm, and the gear and the paper discharge roller are coupled through power transmitting means such as an intermediate gear or a timing belt,
wherein, when the paper feeding motor is rotated in a forward direction, the paper lead-in roller is rotated in a forward direction to lead in a paper and the tip of the link arm is rotated in such a direction as to separate from a paper feeding path so that the paper discharge roller separates from a driven roller for paper discharge, and
wherein, when the paper feeding motor is reversely rotated, the tip of the link arm is rotated in a direction of the paper feeding path so that the paper discharge roller comes in contact with the driven roller for paper discharge by pressure and the paper discharge roller is rotated in a forward direction, thereby discharging the paper.
Moreover, the invention is proposed to attain the third object and provides a paper feeding mechanism of a document binding apparatus formed to be externally attached to a printer apparatus such as a page printer, a facsimile or a copying machine in which a paper discharged from the printer apparatus is sequentially led onto a binding table in the document binding apparatus by means of a paper lead-in roller mechanism, the led paper is arranged by a paper arranging mechanism and is bound by an electromotive stapler, and the bound paper is discharged by a paper discharge roller mechanism,
wherein a paper lead-in driven roller provided in contact with a paper lead-in roller has a gear-shaped section.
Further, the invention is proposed to attain the fourth object and provides a paper arranging mechanism of a document binding apparatus formed to be externally attached to a printer apparatus such as a page printer, a facsimile or a copying machine in which a paper discharged from the printer apparatus is sequentially led onto a binding table in the document binding apparatus by means of a paper lead-in roller mechanism, the led paper is arranged by a paper arranging mechanism and is bound by an electromotive stapler, and the bound paper is discharged by a paper discharge roller mechanism, the paper arranging mechanism including:
a paper arranging pusher formed to be protruded from one of left and right wall surfaces of the binding table into the binding table and to be retreated therefrom; a cam mechanism for reciprocating the paper arranging pusher; a paper arranging rotation brush mechanism provided between left and right wall surfaces of the binding table; and a gear train for driving the cam mechanism and the paper arranging rotation brush mechanism by means of one motor, wherein a side surface of the paper introduced into the binding table is pushed by the paper arranging pusher to carry out alignment in a transverse direction and a surface of the paper is swept by the paper arranging rotation brush to carry out alignment in a longitudinal direction.
Moreover, the invention is proposed to attain the fifth object and provides a document binding apparatus formed to be attached to and removed from or to be provided in a printer apparatus such as a page printer, a facsimile or a copying machine in which a paper discharged from the printer apparatus is sequentially led onto a binding table in the document binding apparatus by means of a paper lead-in roller mechanism, and the led paper is arranged by a paper arranging mechanism and is bound by an electromotive stapler, and the bound paper is discharged by a paper discharge roller mechanism,
wherein the electromotive stapler is fixed into such a position that it hits on a corner portion of the paper put on the binding table, and a side edge portion of the paper enters a portion between a clincher and a driver of the electromotive stapler and runs during the paper lead-in, and the corner portion of the paper accumulated on the binding table is bound by the electromotive stapler.
Further, the invention is proposed to attain the sixth object and provides a binding table of a document binding apparatus formed to be externally attached to a printer apparatus such as a page printer, a facsimile or a copying machine in which a paper discharged from the printer apparatus is sequentially led onto a binding table in the document binding apparatus by means of a paper lead-in roller mechanism, and the led paper is arranged by a paper arranging mechanism and is bound by an electromotive stapler, and the bound paper is discharged by a paper discharge roller mechanism,
wherein a non-slip member having a high coefficient of friction such as a rubber sheet is stuck onto or coated over a surface of the binding table or a non-slip processing is directly carried out over the surface, thereby preventing misalignment of the arranged paper.
The invention is proposed to attain the seventh object and provides a document binding apparatus formed to be externally attached to a printer apparatus such as a page printer, a facsimile or a copying machine in which a paper discharged from the printer apparatus is sequentially led onto a binding table in the document binding apparatus by means of a paper lead-in roller mechanism, and the led paper is arranged by a paper arranging mechanism and is bound by an electromotive stapler, and the bound paper is discharged by a paper discharge roller mechanism,
wherein a paper lead-in roller, a paper discharge roller and a paper arranging rotation brush are provided on an openable cover assembled into a main case of the document binding apparatus, and gears provided on respective shafts of the paper lead-in roller, the paper discharge roller and the paper arranging rotation brush are engaged with a gear for paper lead-in, a gear for paper discharge and a gear for paper arrangement which are provided in the main case to transmit a power in a state that the cover is closed.
Further, according to the present invention, a method of binding a document by a document binding apparatus externally attached to a printer apparatus is proposed. The method includes the steps of: leading a paper discharged from the printer apparatus; aligning a position of the paper; binding the paper; and discharging the paper, wherein said steps of leading the paper, aligning the position of the paper, binding the paper and discharging the paper are sequentially executed.